This week in class we first presented our Debunking Ageism projects. For my Debunking Ageism project, I partnered with Neena and we made an infographic about the myth that “seniors don’t contribute to anything in society and can’t learn new skills.” One of the points that we talked about was the ‘grandmother effect’, which is a two-way benefit where both seniors and children have better health when they have frequent contact with each other. This is often seen in a lot of blue zones of the world where people tend to live longer than average. I liked some of the other projects too, such as the subtle aging traits twitter page, memes, and changed beauty product labels. They were all fun ways of debunking ageism! Then, we gave each other advice on our HAP posters. So far, I liked everyone’s rough draft and think we are going to have a beautiful symposium. Since my group’s event is happening after the poster deadline, we will have to finish our poster quickly after our HAP in order to get it in on time. However, we have a big group so it should be more manageable to do quickly. I am excited for our HAP to happen this weekend. It feels like we have been planning the walkathon for so long that I can’t believe it’s finally here! We have 33 RSVP’s from different senior walking groups that I am excited to meet. I know that some of my friends that I invited can attend as well. I’m hoping for a successful turnout!
In class this week, it was nice to catch up with each other and go over our schedule for the rest of the quarter. First, we debriefed our experiences at the West Center. It was cool to hear about the others experiences with their senior. The one I found most interesting was the woman Tan talked to about going on the bus every day from Chula Vista to the West Center. She lives with her daughter, but she doesn’t know that she goes because she would feel like a burden asking her daughter to give her rides. It made me a little sad to think that seniors feel like a burden to their children when they’ve done so much for them. However, I thought it was awesome how she was so determined to find a way to explore San Diego on her own. I would be concerned about my safety if I was her. We also gathered in our HAP groups and went over our progress. I am excited for my HAP because everything seems like it is all coming together. We decided to make a google form link to make it easier for the seniors to RSVP and a Facebook event to advertise our event easier. I was able to share the event with my friends and some of them said they were interested in coming. Additionally, a group of 10 seniors from a walking group has said that they were coming. Jayson was able to map out a route that is 1.5 miles in Balboa Park that went through nice areas of the park. The only thing that was tricky to figure out was rest stops and an area for our post-walk picnic. On the other hand, we have sent in our orders to the professors so we can have our materials ready for the walk. I hope we have a good turn out because we have been working hard to bring this event together!
This week we visit the West Center and did another portion of our LEG talks. I talked to this 76 year old woman named Joy Sun. She had said how she picked her own name when she came to the U.S. from China. She came in 2003, but has been in San Diego for the past six years. She’s always happy so that is why she picked Joy and the sun is bright and gives light so that is why she picked Sun. She didn’t speak English very well, but Sallie did a good job in translating for us. Joy told us her how her favorite hobbies are to travel, walk, and volunteer. She’s traveled everywhere in the U.S. and all around the world, including Italy, Japan, and Australia. Joy said how she can’t walk as far anymore so she doesn’t travel much. Now, she volunteers are the West Center every day for a couple hours. She is the only mandarin speaking volunteer so she has made many friends and has called the West Center her home. After she volunteers, she goes on a walk to the USS Midway. I saw her pedometer and her steps were consistently around 10,000 or more steps. I was really impressed with how active she was in her community. Joy originally came to San Diego because her daughter worked here. However, her daughter got another job in Seattle and moved away. Joy liked San Diego and made many friends here so she decided to stay. She knew that if she moved with her daughter, she would be stuck taking care of the kids and doing the house chores. She has another daughter who lives in Washington D.C. and a total of three grandsons. I enjoyed talking to Joy and seeing that she was living her best life as an independent senior, defying the stereotypes that label seniors as old, fragile, and helpless.
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Deanna fongWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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